The return of Sunburn: Goa’s gearing up for a Klassique!

27 Jan 201905:10am IST

27 Jan 201905:10am IST

After a hiatus of over 3 years, electronic dance music festival Sunburn will be making its grand homecoming to its birthplace, Goa. Sunburn will begin a new journey of its own under ‘Sunburn Klassique’ – a two-day annual showcase on February 23 and 24, 2019 at Vagator. Percept Live, the wholly owned subsidiary of Percept Ltd, has announced a collaboration with Goa-based Klassique to co-promote all Sunburn events in the state. Café speaks to Harindra Singh, CMD, Percept Ltd, about this and more

HERALD CAFÉ:

What makes Goa so unique and nostalgic for Sunburn stakeholders?

HARINDRA SINGH:

Goa offers the perfect blend of culture,
cuisine, sun, sand and sea, music, youth and a vibrant lifestyle that ranges
from sublime relaxation to fast-paced fun and entertainment. We received great
local support after the birth of Sunburn in Goa in 2007 and saw it grow from a
simple concept into a phenomenally successful mega global festival that saw
attendance from over 52 countries in this very destination. The support and
love we received from the locals in Goa through the initial years was
heartwarming and overwhelming. All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better
destination or a better administration that was so keen to see Sunburn succeed and
grow year on year. And that made Goa extremely special for us.

HC:

Did you miss hosting Sunburn in Goa?

HS:

Yes definitely, we missed Goa at every moment. We left Goa in
2016 with a very heavy heart. We tried really hard to recreate the magic of Goa
across other destinations; however, Goa is Goa... incomparable to any other
destination. It’s impossible to create the Goa magic anywhere else. And Sunburn
is as Goan as the Goans! It was started in Goa 12 years ago, and grew right
there. Now that Sunburn has reached a threshold of mega recognition globally,
we owe a major chunk of its success to Goa. Happy to be back home.

HC:

What made you decide to re-enter Goa after a gap of 3 years?

HS:

We were waiting for an opportunity to return and host Sunburn in
Goa. And when we read a recent statement of the Tourism Minister lamenting the
exit of EDM festivals and their associated impact, we saw a glimmer of hope and
attained the confidence to look for a viable partner to bring Sunburn back into
the state of Goa.

We were lucky to tie-up with Shailesh Shetty, Klassique, who
will be representing Sunburn in Goa and taking on the onus of handling all the
local logistics, permissions and licenses for ensuring a smooth and successful
homecoming of Sunburn Klassique in Goa. Shailesh also knows the business well,
having been the supersonic partner since inception.

HC:

What can we hope to expect from Sunburn Klassique?

HS:

We are aiming to provide a truly memorable and magical festival
that can once again build Goa into a thriving music destination. We will curate
and deliver the most intrinsic and enhanced fan experience without compromising
on our production and experiential ethics. A massive festival like Sunburn is
built on creativity, foresight and passion, and we will be going in all guns
blazing to make Sunburn Klassique an even bigger festival than ever. The event
will definitely bring back a lot of memories to fans who have been a part of
Sunburn since its inception in Goa 12 years ago.

HC:

How do you intend to resolve the past issues with the
Government?

HS:

In business, there are bound to be differences. However both
parties were proactively trying to seek solutions and arrive at a mutual
resolution. It feels great to have arrived at a consensus to bring Sunburn back
to its state of birth and continue to engage proactively to narrow past gaps;
the gaps will be soon a thing of the past.

It’s a surreal and nostalgic feeling to witness Sunburn’s
homecoming after a long gap of 3 years. We will work assiduously with the
authorities to get all the requisite permissions to ensure the event goes off
smoothly without any glitches, and also adds tremendous value to the local
eco-system.

We are very thankful to the government for its support and
recent announcements.

HC:

Will there be a difference in the content of Sunburn Klassique?

HS:

In Goa, we were only focused on growing the scale, size and
content of the festival year on year. However, once we were forced to shift in
2016, the dynamics and the content of the festival had to massively change,
innovate and adapt in multiple ways. This was a massive learning curve for us
as we learned on the go, implemented, tied-up with the biggest names on the
international scene and grew massively across areas of technology, SFX,
logistics, safety norms and many vital guidelines that matched and even
surpassed the biggest and best global festivals and events. In Goa, we had only
grown organically, but our shift from Goa elicited both, an organic and
inorganic growth in the festival that now offered us a tremendous advantage.

We will definitely be implementing this learning curve into the
upcoming Sunburn Klassique, which will see the best of sound design and
engineering, state of the art SFX, remarkable pyrotechnics and the best of
curated content. Our homecoming with Sunburn Klassique will definitely raise
the bar across all parameters and wow our fans like never before.

HC:

Any parting thoughts for Goa?

HS:

We will always be
very committed towards positioning Goa as the ultimate destination of choice
for entertainment, lifestyle, creativity, fun and business through our
initiatives with Sunburn. That’s our way of paying back and thanking the
beautiful destination of Goa and its people for all their love and support they
have given us into making Sunburn the super global iconic success that it is
today.